TERRITORY

MAGNESIA / MYTHOS, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, UNIVERSITY

The Magnesia prefecture, situated at the center of the Hellenic geography (the Thessaly region), is one of the many places in Greece famous for the rich and exceptional bedrock of mythological narrations and historical facts. The name Magnesia is derived from the oldest habitats of the area called ‘’Magnites’’. It is the place according to a famous mythological narration from where Jason and the Argonauts sail to the Black Sea (the ‘’Ef-xenos Pontos’’ of the ancient Greek navigation referential system) and the city of Kolhida seeking for the Golden Fleece. The mountain Pilion occupying almost the entire surface of the peninsula was the habitat of the Centaurs. Mythical creatures, half men and half horses, wise and powerful. The most famous among them was Chiron, the son of the Cronus Titan and the Philyra nymph. Chiron was the teacher of Achilles. The Pilion mountain is fully covered with deep forests and cultivations of olive trees, chestnuts, apple trees and planes. The capital city of the Magnesia Prefecture is the city of Volos where the most of the faculties of the University of Thessaly are situated. Volos is a moderate city but a very important port connecting the Hellenic inland with the Sporades Islands, a famous summer destination for visitors mostly entering to the country by air through the near by international airport of Nea Anchialos. Close to the city of Volos there are the archaeological sites of Sesclo and Dimini, two very important Neolithic settlements.

 

The PAW monastery (Congressional and cultural center of the holy monastery of st. Nikolas) is situated at the lower half part of the Pilion peninsula close to the village of Argalasti. The monastery is renovated by the University of Thessaly and it is now host and support small scale congresses, conferences and workshops. The altitude from the surface of the sea is 150m providing a perfect supervising position towards the Pagasitikos Gulf to the visitors and the participants of the events.

 

The University of Thessaly was founded about 30 years ago. It is located mostly in the city of Volos with campuses in the cities of Larissa, Trikala and Karditsa. Despite its short history, it demonstrates a remarkable presence in the academic ranking of universities. Most of its Faculties, as well as the University as a whole, have been positively evaluated by international visiting Committees, based on the considerable research and scientific performance of the academic staff and the high quality teaching programs. The University of Thessaly is steadily attracting high status professors and personnel from Greece and abroad and continuously upgrading its services to update with the society, the central and the local government needs and the industry.